


Checking In

by MonPetitTresor



Series: Family Don't End With Blood [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural
Genre: Dean's Birthday, Friendship, Hurt Tony, Post-Iron Man 1, Sam worries, about Tony, and everything, post-Afghanistan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 07:23:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11203191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonPetitTresor/pseuds/MonPetitTresor
Summary: Sam decides that he can't wait around any longer after recent events and makes a trip to check on his brother.





	Checking In

**Author's Note:**

> So far this has been pretty Sam-centric, and that’s the way most of the fic will be, but this one is going to be a bit more about Tony. Also, Sam makes a new friend!

Sam knew he wasn’t exactly the best example of a brother. There were so many ways he’d screwed up with his biological brother – times that he looked back on now and cursed himself for – it was a wonder that Dean had still cared for him. He also knew that the stuff he was doing now… if Dean knew about it, he’d hate him. That was something that Sam was prepared to live with. If it meant Dean came back alive, he’d live with him hating him.

However, the idea of screwing up with Tony, of ruining the relationship with the only family he had left, it was terrifying.

That was why he found himself in Malibu after Tony had told him to stay away. He’d honored it for a bit and respected Tony’s need to be alone and heal some after what he’d went through. JARVIS kept him up to date on things, which helped Sam to keep back, but once JARVIS told him about what happened with Obie, about him literally ripping out the arc reactor from Tony’s chest, _the one that Tony hadn’t even told him he had_ , and once he saw the press conference where Tony told the entire world “I am Iron Man”, there was no way Sam could stay away.

The amount of press that Tony had just put on himself was enough to make it even riskier than normal for Sam to come out there. If he asked his brother he knew the man would tell him to most definitely not come out there. He just – he couldn’t stay away. Tony had been there for him so many times and Sam hadn’t been able to do a thing for him while he was lost in the desert. He hadn’t been able to help him get back home. Now he was here and Sam had yet again missed out on helping him. It didn’t matter that the last demon attack had left Sam bruised and battered in bed for a while. He was still pretty achy now as he made his way to Tony’s Malibu home. But it didn’t matter. None of that mattered. The guy who was like a big brother to him, who always tried to take care of him in his own way, needed a friend right now, and there was no way in hell that Sam was going to sit back and ignore it all.

What he hadn’t expected was to be greeted by a gun the instant he came through the front door. A tall, dark skinned man was standing there glaring at him, gun steady and eyes firm. “Who are you and how’d you get in here?”

A look at the man gave Sam a pretty good idea on who this was. _Well, you knew it was a risk coming out here. Remember – you’re doing this for Tony. Stay calm._ Sam kept his voice as steady as possible as he said, “You must be Lt. Col. Rhodes.” Shifting his weight, and resisting the urge to reach for a gun or weapon of his own, Sam spread his hands out peacefully on either side of him. “My name is Sam and I’m not a threat, I promise you, sir. If I was, do you think JARVIS would’ve let me in here, or that I would’ve had the codes to get in?”

“The young sir is indeed correct, Lt. Col. Rhodes.” JARVIS said smoothly. “He is one of Sir’s friends and has full access to his homes.” Then his voice shifted a little, became something softer, something decidedly warmer, and Rhodes looked around with surprise at the change. “Welcome, Sam. We weren’t anticipating your visit. Sir is sleeping right now, but you’re welcome to come in and make yourself at home.”

Sam smiled. “Thanks, J.” He didn’t move, though. He kept his loose, relaxed posture, and eyed Rhodes and the gun. “Do you mind putting that way, sir? I’ll answer what questions I can, but I’d rather not do it at gunpoint.” Besides which, his aching body was demanding he find a seat, soon, and he wasn’t quite sure how much longer he would be able to just stand here.

It seemed for a moment that the man wasn’t going to respond to him. Then he relaxed, though only marginally, and lowered his gun. “JARVIS, you’re sure this kid is safe? I’m not taking chances after everything that’s happened.”

“Should a situation such as this ever come up, Sir has given me permission to make the proper introductions that will allow you trust the young sir.”

“JARVIS…” Sam said slowly, suddenly unsure. What did Tony have planned here.

JARVIS ignored his concerns and continued on, surprising both men. “Lt. Col. Rhodes, allow me to introduce you to Samuel Stark, Sir’s younger brother.”

“Brother?” Rhodes looked like he’d been slapped.

Meanwhile, Sam wasn’t doing much better. It was one thing for him and Tony to talk like that with one another and no one else around to hear it. To have him claim Sam like that, openly, to a man that was the closest friend that Tony had, his _best_ friend, stunned Sam. He hadn’t ever expected that. “J,” Sam had to pause and clear his throat to get the lump of emotion out of there. Still, he sounded a bit huskier than normal when he spoke. “You guys didn’t have to do that.”

“Sir has intended on introducing you two for quite a while now. With recent events, he felt it was even more prudent. He didn’t want you to be alone and unaware were anything to happen to him again.”

Sam had to close his eyes against that. He didn’t even want to think of anything happening to Tony. Not now. “I wasn’t alone or unaware, J. I’ve had you.” And he wasn’t sure what he would’ve done without JARVIS there to help him through some things. The AI was an amazing sounding board. He was great for listening during those times where everything was just too much and Sam had no one to speak with. JARVIS was a great listener and was nonjudgmental.

“It’s been my honor, young sir.”

When Sam opened his eyes again, he found Rhodes watching him with a steady, assessing gaze. There was suspicion buried in their depths as well as curiosity. “I think you and I might have a lot to talk about.”

“I think you’re right, sir.” Sam said.

After another pause, the guy shook his head. “Jim. If I’m going to be sitting down and talking to some secret brother of Tony’s, I think you’ve got the right to call me Jim.”

* * *

The two ended up in the kitchen together. It was awkward, Sam couldn’t deny that. He had no idea how much Tony had told Rhodes – Jim. He did know, however, that he didn’t want Jim to believe a lie. Just in case Jim one day came across something that told him who Sam Winchester really was, he didn’t want the man laboring under the belief that Sam was a Stark. So when they settled down on the couch with their coffees, which Sam made – Jim watching him the whole time, taking note of how comfortable he was in this house – he looked right at the man and told him “First things first, I’m not really Tony’s brother. Not in the sense that you’re thinking of.”

“You are his brother in every sense that matters.” JARVIS interjected.

Sam couldn’t help but smile a little at that. “Thanks, Jarv. But biologically, I’m not his brother, and that’s what you were implying before.” Focusing back on Jim, he kept a hint of a smile, though it felt foreign on his face. There hadn’t been much cause to smile lately. “I met Tony when I was in college. He was there for a speaking event. But I didn’t actually meet him until afterwards, when… well…”

“He saved my ass.”

The sound of Tony’s voice had Sam’s head jerking up. He watched as Tony came slowly down the staircase and he instantly set his cup down on the coffee table and shot to his feet. He was across the room in the time it took Tony to reach the bottom of the stairs. There was only a short pause and then Tony smiled at him and opened up his arms, a request that Sam didn’t need to hear twice. He carefully reached out and wrapped the older man up in a hug that was strong yet gentle enough to not hurt any of his injuries. With Tony still on the bottom step, it put him up just enough that it wasn’t that awkward of a hug, especially with Sam practically clinging to him, though the feel of the new piece of hardware in his chest threw Sam a bit.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Tony’s eyeroll was audible, as was his smile. He patted Sam’s back and then drew back to get a better look at him. There were shadows under Tony’s eyes and a kind of pain and grief there that Sam had seen plenty of times on other people, or in the mirror. He hated seeing it on Tony. The man was still smiling, though. “You look like shit.”

Sam let out a low laugh. “You’re not looking much better, asshole.”

“What can I say? Someone disturbed my beauty sleep.” He moved forward enough to slip his arm around Sam’s waist and pull him along. The only thing Sam could do was sling his own arm around Tony’s shoulders and just let himself get dragged. As they walked, Tony tilted his head enough to shoot him a glare. “Someone who I’m pretty sure I told _not_ to come out here. I mean, sure, I forget things a lot, but I’m pretty sure I’d remember changing my mind on that. JARVIS would let me know, wouldn’t you, J?”

“Indeed I would, Sir.” JARVIS agreed.

“We’ll get into that later, though. No family fights in front of company, right? Right.” He flashed one of his bright grins at Jim. It made Sam like the other man a little more when he saw that Jim clearly didn’t buy it. Good. Tony needed someone in his life who could see through his crap. Another point in Jim’s favor was that he didn’t call Tony on it. He let him deflect and just smiled a little at them as Tony and Sam sat down on the couch. Or, well, Sam sat back in his seat. Tony sort of sprawled out between the two of them, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table. “So! Sugar bear, I see you’ve met the puppy. Puppy, this is Lt. Col. Jim Rhodes. You can call him Rhodey. Or sweetheart. Or any variation thereof.”

Rolling his eyes, Sam shifted himself a little on his seat until he could brush his knee against Tony’s leg, just needing that contact right in the moment. “I think I’ll stick with Jim.”

“Smart choice.” Jim said wryly.

As Tony launched into a rant about names, Sam took a second to look at the older man a little closer. He didn’t like what he saw. Tension and stress sat on Tony’s body and it was clear he wasn’t doing all that well. Honestly, it reminded Sam of what Tony could be like at a certain time of year. Whenever certain anniversaries hit, it wasn’t uncommon to find a shitfaced Tony with his normal walls almost gone. Sam made a point to try and be here when that happened to help keep Tony safe from others and from himself.

When Tony finally wound down, the subject came back to how the two met, just like Sam knew it would. He was content to drink his coffee and see how Tony wanted to handle it. Once he got an idea, he’d be able to chip in and help. For the moment, he just listened as Tony said “Like I said, he saved my life from a crazy chick who was trying to strangle me. Got me out of there, cleaned up, and then we got drunk off our asses together.”

Jim shook his head. “Of course you did.”

So, that was how Tony was going to play things. Good thing Sam had experience with these kinds of lies. He knew the types of stories to tell if questions about his work came up. Smiling a bit more easily, he slung his arm on the back of the couch and made himself relaxing, resisting the urge to sigh as his muscles welcomed the relaxation. “In his defense, it wasn’t like it was the first time I’d had a drink.” No, Dean had taken care of that when Sam was only twelve. He’d thought he was the coolest, being able to have a drink of Dean’s beer. Even if it had tasted disgusting. He’d swallowed it down like a champ and didn’t throw it back up no matter how much he wanted to gag. Dean had taken one look at his face and laughed for almost twenty minutes.

Either there was something on Sam’s face that gave away how stuck in memories he was or else Tony just knew him that well, because the older man immediately drew the attention off that topic in a move that was too convenient to be accidental. “One night with the kid and I decided that was it. Someone had to try and take care of him! You should’ve seen him, Rhodey. There’s a reason I call him puppy. He was a scrawny thing, all long limbs and these big puppy-dog eyes. I had to bring him home! Who knew who might snatch him up if I didn’t?”

“You know I’m not an actual dog, right?” Sam asked dryly.

Tony smiled at him and reached over to pat his leg. “Sure thing, kiddo.” Then, because he was a dick, he lifted his hand and patted Sam on the head instead. “Good boy.”

“You’re such an asshole.” Still, Sam stayed in place as Tony laughed and ruffled his hair.

The two looked back at Jim to find him smiling at them in a way that told Sam that the man might not like him yet, but he was less worried. It was going to take a bit to get his stamp of approval. Not that Sam could really blame him. Too many took advantage of Tony, and the others never seemed to see beyond the masks he put up in public. The fact that Jim was worrying about Sam was a point in his favor. Smiling at the man, Sam settled in and prepared himself for the inquisition he knew was coming.

* * *

Three hours had gone by – plus a really good meal of sweet and sour chicken from Tony’s favorite Chinese delivery place – before Jim finally headed out and Sam and Tony were alone.

One they were, Tony wasted no time in turning a glare his direction. The door had barely even shut behind Jim! But Tony had his arms crossed over his chest in a defensive – and, Sam noted, protective – gesture, and he was glaring at Sam, who had no issue calmly meeting his stare. “I thought I told you it wasn’t safe to come out.”

“Did you really think I’d stay away after everything?”

Tony let out a sigh and some of his anger melted off his face. It revealed the exhaustion underneath. “JARVIS, what have I told you about spilling secrets?”

“You’ve given the young sir the highest level of clearance, Sir, on par with your own, as well as his own, and you have not specified any areas you want him unaware of.” JARVIS pointed out.

While Sam was reeling over the idea that he had clearance for JARVIS that was matched with Tony’s, his brother was busy sighing and rolling his eyes. “Which is your way of telling me he knows everything now, right?” The silence he got in response was answer enough. Tony turned his eyes to Sam and there was something else in them, something a bit older than before and a bit tortured, and it made Sam want to reach out to him. “So, you know it all, then. Obie, the suits, the reactor.”

“Not everything.” Sam said softly. “Not the important things.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t care about the science of it all, Tone.” Shaking his head, Sam took a small step forward, watching his brother as he did. “I barely even understand half of it. All that smart stuff, I’ll leave that to you. That’s your area of expertise.”

He was cut off by a scowl from Tony and a low, grumbled “Quit it. You’re a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

Ignoring it, Sam continued on as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “What matters to me is _you_ , you idiot. I don’t care about the reactor beyond what it means for _you_. I don’t care about the Iron Man suit except that you’re safe when you use it, and it’s really what you want to do.” He lifted his hands out on either side of him and held them there, palms up. “I’m behind you one hundred percent, Tone, you know that. Whatever you wanna do, I’ve got your back. I just want to make sure that you’re taking care of you at the same time.”

There was no missing the crack in Tony’s armor. Pain leaked into his eyes as they darted to Sam’s face and away. Tony opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, opened it again, and then closed it once more. His fingers began tapping nervously against his leg, a gesture Sam knew he only did when he was really nervous. For his part, Sam just lowered his hands and waited, knowing that he’d pushed Tony far enough with his speech. The next move was up to him.

After a few minutes of silence, Tony let out a breath that ran through him like a shudder, and he closed his eyes. “I’m coping.” The words were almost too soft for Sam to hear. “The suits, they help. They help me feel like I’m doing… something. I might not be able to be the kind of hero people expect to see, but I can do something with this…” He lifted one hand and gestured at the glowing light in his chest. “…this crap they left me with. I can go out there and stop my weapons from ever getting into the wrong hands again.”

“It’s brave, what you’re doing.” Sam told him. He’d always thought that Tony was braver than he gave himself credit for.

“Yeah.” The sound Tony made was close to a scoff, only packed full with derision and self-loathing. “Too little too late.”

There was no point in arguing that. He could tell Tony how great he was until he was blue in the face and it wouldn’t make a difference.  No matter how many times Sam told him that he was great, that he was worth so much more than he thought, it never sank in. Sam was going to _stop_ of course. Someone had to tell him. But right now, that wasn’t what he needed to hear, and he wouldn’t listen to it anyways. Instead, Sam simply said “You’re still doing it, and that’s what matters.”

For a second Tony looked at him and Sam got the feeling that the man was hearing all the things in there that Sam had kept himself from saying. Some of the lines on his face softened a little and a bit of his normal warmth crept back into his eyes. “Thanks.”

The two shared a smile. Then Tony stepped back and gestured over his shoulder, ending their conversation for now. “Come on, pipsqueak. Let’s go get you set up in your room. You look like five miles of bad road and I get the feeling it’s a hell of a story.”

As Sam followed after him, he couldn’t help but think _You’ve got no idea._

* * *

For the next six days, Sam stayed there with Tony, hiding out anytime someone dropped by. It was doing Tony a world of good and, honestly, it was helping Sam, too. He found himself relaxing as he hadn’t done these past few months. Not even the cravings that he was starting to feel were enough to dampen the good emotions that came from spending this time with Tony.

He might’ve stuck around longer, pushing the cravings off even more, if he hadn’t gotten word one afternoon from Ruby that there was some sort of something going on in the place where Dean had been buried. There were signs of something powerful happening there and then plenty of demonic activity cropping up all around the edges. Within five minutes, Sam had his bags packed. Ten minutes after that, he was on the road, with a bunch of food in the back seat of the car, at Tony’s insistence – it was all packed up takeout and such that Tony claimed he wouldn’t eat before it went bad – and a new supply of ‘better’ weapons that Tony had improved, as well as a new EMF meter, a fully stocked first aid kit, and a wealth of new bullets. Typical for Tony, really. Sam had long since got used to Tony’s need to gift the people he cared about. It was his most comfortable way of showing he cared.

With all that in his car, and a promise to call Tony if he got into trouble – he wouldn’t – as well as a promise from Tony to call him if _he_ needed _Sam_ , the young hunter set off to meet up with Ruby and find out what was going on.


End file.
